WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Jeff Bingaman and Tom Udall today announced that the Waste Isolation Pilot Project will receive $172 million to accelerate the completion of legacy transuranic waste shipments from a variety of sites.
"For the last decade, WIPP has served an extremely important role for the country. This funding from the recovery package will ensure that legacy waste from various locations is properly stored," Bingaman said.
"These funds will help enable WIPP to accelerate the completion of its mission to safely and securely store legacy waste and generate jobs in Southeast New Mexico," said Udall.
Congressman Harry Teague applauded the announcement. "The Recovery funding that will go to WIPP will create hundreds of jobs in southeastern New Mexico and help jumpstart the economy in a responsible way," said Teague. "The work that WIPP does to prepare and store nuclear waste is a unique and vital asset to our nation."
Bingaman and Udall had pressed for the inclusion of $6 billion in the recovery package for DOE's environmental cleanup program. The senators also announced $212 million from the cleanup program for Los Alamos National Laboratory.
